Hotwire Car rentals

[aberose]

I never rented a car through hotwire. I dont know if this is the right place to ask. What can be wrong with renting a car through hotwire?

[powerplantop]

I never rented a car through hotwire. I dont know if this is the right place to ask. What can be wrong with renting a car through hotwire?

The only thing "wrong" with using Hotwire is that you don't get to pick which company you use.

But you can save quite a bit over market rates.

[aberose]

Why would i care what company it is? or should i?

I am renting in the airport and i am over 25 years old.

[aberose]

also, does the type of car that HOTWIRE display give any clue to what company there are giving?

[szymon]

Why would i care what company it is? or should i?

You would care about the company if:

- you have frequent renter status with one or more companies that gives you free upgrades, faster service, etc.

- you want to earn frequent flier miles, hotel points, etc.

- you want to rent a specific specialty car (Hertz Prestige/Green/Fun Collections, Avis Cool Cars)

Szymon

[thereuare]

Two other aspects:

1) your HOTWIRE purchase is non-refundable, so you should only commit to a purchase once your plans are firm

2) if you intend on signing up an additional driver, some companies charge extra for this and others don't, and this has caused me to book direct on a few occaisions when i thought my wife and i would be looking to each split the driving over the course of the trip

If you'd like to move forward with this rental please let us know the dates and location in a reply to this thread, we'll then move this thread to the correct section of the board and advise you further there.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[powerplantop]

Why would i care what company it is? or should i?

At some airports you can pick up a car in the airport but some companies you will have to take a shuttle bus. When I am on a tight schedual I want to stay off the suttle bus.

[aberose]

whats the chances in Las Vegas that it wont be the airport location. Which are all with a shuttle anyway.

[dlkbc]

I have had two good experiences with car rentals using HOTWIRE and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

However this past xmas, I needed to get a few more miles with my Mileage Plus so I decided to try carrentals.com. I came up with the same rate and the same kind of national car rental company.

But with carrentals, you get to see which company it is before you commit. (BTW, with United Mileage Plus, I had to pay $2 each day approx for the car rental company to process my card which I thought was a rip off but what can you do?!).

[szymon]

whats the chances in Las Vegas that it wont be the airport location. Which are all with a shuttle anyway.

In Vegas, you would get one of the companies at the consolidated Rental Car Center accessible with a shuttle.

A newcomer to cheap rentals in Vegas is Simply Wheelz, check their prices and compare with HOTWIRE as well.

Szymon

[soos]

I rented my car through HOTWIRE for an upcoming trip....paid 40% less than the going rate and the car company turned out to be Hertz...can't beat it...if I have any issues after the trip, I will come back and post about it.

Sue